WHAT ABOUT SEABROOK AND VERSTEEG AND GETTING RID OF HUET AND CAMPBELL? THE TEAM IS STILL BROKEN!!!!! AAAAAAHHHH, I CAN SEE THE SKY RIGHT NOW AND ITS STILL FALLING

It is time to say goodbye to sharp, buff, and maybe barker but keith , kane and toews are players that cannot be let go. Pitt and detroit ae perfect examples of the new nhl. You develop a strong core of 6 players and have a revolving door for the rest of the roster. Hawk fans need to come to grips with this. With our core of players we will be a contender for a decade.

….this IS a cause for celebration!!

So many other guys are critical to this year’s team, but, long-term, this has a Jordan-Pippen feel…if true.

For this year, barring major injury, no more deals. We like our people. Stop playing GM.

We get down on (depending on the day), say, Buff but remember when Frodo wanted to chuck Gollum down a well or something, but Gandalf said he might be important later. I feel that way about all our whipping boys when they’re getting beat up.

Anyone here suspect we may be some time away from hearing about this, though? If it does go down, I’d expect McDonough would want to cash in on the hype … and the team isn’t back home for a while yet. Nice Christmas present, though.

Well, this means that the Hawks won’t have money for Hjalmarson. But of course, Bowman’s a smarter man than I am, so maybe he’ll find some.

Anybody read Mirtle’s post on shots differential?

The topic is a beaten horse but down the comments he does mention that in everything but goaltending, he sees the Blackhawks as having the best team in the league.

I don’t know about offense yet, given all our injuries, but we’ve definitely got the best D out there.

The largest current cap hit on the Hawks’ roster is goaltender Cristobal Huet’s $5,625,000, with Marian Hossa’s hit at $5,275,000. The Hawks gave Hossa $62.8 million over 12 years to help ease the cap hit.
Many believe Toews, 21, and Kane, who will turn 21 on Thursday, will sign similar extended-term deals. But that may not be the case as it would make sense for them to sign for fewer than Hossa’s 12 years or Brian Campbell’s eight, putting them in the prime of their careers the next time they’re free agents. They could then be in position to demand even bigger paydays.

Mentions that Huet is the biggest cap hit, and then mentions campbell’s contract a couple sentences later……guess the lightbulb never clicked.

Kuc’s mention that LeBrun has reported this makes me nervous that he is just piggybacking on that, and doesn’t have any additional sources. We’ll see.

Completely ignoring the fact that it would be terribly illegal by NHLPA standards, it’d be fun to see the Hawks circumvent the cap by signing all of their players to league minimum contracts to fit them in, and then make up the difference between those contracts by paying them through some kind of Blackhawks Marketing Organization or something like that. It isn’t like these guys haven’t done enough appearances to warrant that kind of recognition, so instead of just doing the appearances because they are part of the team, they’d do it as a “second job.”

Alright, so maybe it’s a stupid idea, but it’s far from my first.

Toews/Kane/Keith/Hossa/Seabrook/Bolland? Or am I missing something.

How many years does Sopel have?

With Brouwer playing damn good hockey, shouldn’t Buff be easily expendable, as well as Cam Barker with Hjalms becoming a damn stellar defenseman?

Obviously Brian Campbell will be impossible to trade (thanks a lot Tallon for the inflated contract) and the 4th line guys don’t even make enough to deem a trade worthy for cap issues.

I am thinking the Hawks are doing a shit ton better with deals this time other than the horseshit before E.G. Bolland’s deal, Versteeg’s deal, Cam Barker’s deal, Huet’s deal. Etc.

Other than the big three, who else are free agents this upcoming season? Who do you keep between Verstud!, Sharpie, and Buff (first out the door)?

A few long term deals, a trade or two and they should be fine.

It would tickle my fancy to see Dunc, Marvel, and 20 cent all signed before this week ends, please don’t be feeding me bullshit Kuc

I’m beginning to dread these signing announcements. Of course I want Kane, Toews and Keith back but I don’t want to speculate about all the guys we will have to get rid of to make room. I love this team right now and the thought of having to part with anyone other than Buff depresses me. It’s October and I’m already worrying about trades? This sucks.

…is making tough decisions about players who may do certain things that are nice, but maybe won’t help you achieve that goal.

This is where the questions arise about whether players in their current roles on the Hawks (Sharp, Byfuglien, VERSTEEG!, Barker) would be in the same role on a Stanley Sup winning team.

http://objectivenhl.blogspot.com/

Although they reference Kuc of the Tribune, nhl.com is also carrying the report of the potential Big 3 re-signing.

Seems unlikely that it would be posted there if it was still just in the rumour stages.

Give the guys a nice boost before what is looking like a grueling road trip. A dash of spice, a quarter cup of job security and 2 tablespoons of “now that that’s shored up, concentrate on kicking some serious ass for the next 10 days.”

I just realized I’m getting married this weekend, and I’ll be out of the country on my honeymoon all next week. I’m going to have way to much hockey to catch up on when I get back.

Here’s this, with some quotations from Toews, Kane, Keith. May not be as done as was rumoured. So many people saying so many words … how’s a guy supposed to get his work done these days?

Hawks are currently outperforming the prediction, on pace for 112 points, Keith outperforming by quite a bit. I think its an insider story though.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nhl/insider/news/story?id=4663873

http://twitter.com/JeffMarek

Looks like the Keith (13 years), Toews and Kane (5 year deals) are all but officially as now there are 29 other GM’s weeping at the fact that they’re not going to have a chance at any of them.
Who stays? Who goes? That’s for another day when the Hawks have to travel down that avenue but for the meantime this is the best news for this franchise in a very long time. Nice to see this organization sign their core players rather than trade them away or let them walk due to frugality. For those who’ve had to endure the destruction of years past this is tremendous time to be a Blackhawks fan.